


Ripstop

by qwanderer



Series: Braids!Verse [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Heteronormativity, I kind of play with that as a concept, Iron Man 2 starring Natasha "Toni" Stark, iron woman - Freeform, it heavily influences the "what-if" aspects of this 'verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 00:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14344218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwanderer/pseuds/qwanderer
Summary: Then somehow, and Toni wasn't entirely sure how, she acquired a new personal assistant by the name of Clay Brixton who had arms for days and had done modeling in Tokyo. She and Pepper sat side by side and watched him exchange manly posturing with Happy in the boxing ring. Pepper made some comment about ogling him, and Toni just responded, "If I go down for that, I'm taking you with me, missy."





	Ripstop

The world wasn't sure what to think of Iron Woman, but she really couldn't care less. She'd made them accept her as CEO, and nothing was going to stop her from doing what she needed to do now. 

Well, the palladium poisoning was making a pretty decent attempt. Between that and the fact that her damn hair was growing enough to get itself in all kinds of trouble but wasn't really long enough to braid yet, she was thoroughly off balance. 

After that, Pepper stole the company. 

(Well, she couldn't have done it if Toni had actually wanted to stop her, but actually stepping up and demanding to be named CEO was how Pepper needed to prove to both of them that she had the grit to come out of nowhere and step into the shoes of Natasha Antonia Stark.) 

Then somehow, and Toni wasn't entirely sure how, she acquired a new personal assistant by the name of Clay Brixton who had arms for days and had done modeling in Tokyo. She and Pepper sat side by side and watched him exchange manly posturing with Happy in the boxing ring. Pepper made some comment about ogling him, and Toni just responded, "If I go down for that, I'm taking you with me, missy." 

He was pretty, and he seemed to respect her plenty, so any competence he might have was just a bonus. But he did seem competent enough. 

Toni went to the race track, planning on enjoying herself thoroughly, while she still could. The adrenaline rush of the suit was now always tempered by the knowledge that every flight brought her more pain and less lifespan, and putting it on was a pain with her hair at this awkward length. Not to mention taking it off again. 

Right now she just wanted to put on a simple helmet and get in a simple car and have a simple, exhilarating moment of freedom. 

But nothing could ever be simple for Natasha Antonia Stark. 

* * *

"You may not know this, little girl, but you come from a family of thieves and butchers." 

Toni scoffed. "You really wanna go there, Mr. Attempted Murder? This 'little girl' is almost fifty, smarter than you, and can beat you in a fight." She narrowed her eyes at him. When he said nothing, she continued. "Speaking of thieves, where'd you get that design?" 

"My father, Anton Vanko." 

"Never heard of him." 

"Anton Vanko is the reason you're alive, and he died poor and in pain, never able to get what was owed him. What was his as much as it was ever Howard Stark's." 

"What, you want my sympathy?" 

"I want to make you bleed." 

Toni eyed her scratched-up knuckles. "And what exactly does that get you?" 

"Everything, little girl," Ivan said, and grinned a monstrous grin. 

* * *

Vanko had shaken her up more than she'd wanted to show, so it was with a blend of annoyance and relief that she greeted Rhodey back at the hotel. 

"You got here fast," she commented. "I assume you hijacked either my backup plane or my backup suit." 

"The plane," Rhodey said, frowning. "You all right, Toni?" 

"Yeah, of course. Didn't stop for updates after you saw the news footage? You don't have to worry so much about me, you know. I can protect myself." 

Pepper popped her head in, a quirk of a smile for the two of them. "Well, I've got to go, company to run. Coming with, Toni, or are you taking your _other_ plane?" 

Toni waved her hand. "Go, be the second amazing female CEO of Stark Industries. I've got to talk down this overprotective idiot." 

"Huh," Pepper said. "Just don't forget who came flying in to pick you up the last time you got yourself neck-deep in trouble halfway around the world." 

Toni inclined her head in acknowledgement, a smirk on her face. 

"No, no, Toni," Rhodey said, "it doesn't matter which plane you take because they are _both_ going back to Malibu." 

"Well, that seems like a waste. I feel like we should stay longer now. You know this is why the environmental people still get on my back, even with everything I'm doing for clean energy." 

"What was I supposed to do? You were attacked, Tones! I wasn't gonna _not_ be here." 

Toni's heart melted just a little. 

"You could've taken the suit, you know," she told him. 

He sighed, shaking his head. "The suit is you all over," he said. "Way more than it needs to be in a tiny little package." 

"I have no idea what that means," Toni said. 

"It means come home. Not in the suit. Get some sleep on the way." 

Toni looked at his earnest, concerned face. "Okay, fine," she said, "but not because you told me to." She wrinkled her nose, then nudged his shoulder in a friendly way. "You're being no fun, stick in the mud, ruining my vacation." 

His eyebrows rose. "Vanko didn't do that already?" 

Toni rolled her eyes. "Clearly you underestimate my capacity for enjoying a good party." She went to pack up the essentials she'd brought. 

"Jesus, Toni, don't you ever _rest_?" he asked, trailing after her. 

"Nope!" 

* * *

"Thought you were sleeping," Rhodey said when she emerged from the back of the plane with the covered dish. "What's that?" 

"Your in-flight meal," Toni said like it was obvious. It appeared to include runny eggs and possibly some kind of mushroom. 

"Uh," Rhodey said, frowning at it. "Thanks? But why?" 

"What, can't a girl make an omelette for a friend without getting the third degree?" 

"I don't know, can you?" Rhodey joked, turning the plate slightly to examine its contents more closely. Then he sighed. "Toni, this domestic crap isn't you and we both know it. Stop it. Just stop with this smokescreen. What you need is to go home and rest. You're wearing yourself out, I can tell." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever con you're trying to pull, it can wait." 

"This is not a con, okay? This is - this is the opposite of a con." 

"Well whatever it is, it can wait for another day, right? _Sleep,_ woman. I'll be here." He eyed the food. "I'm sure I've got some rations or something." 

Toni snorted. "Okay," she agreed. "It can wait." 

* * *

"Wait," Rhodey said, pausing mid-fight. " _Dying?_ " 

"I was going to tell you," Toni told Rhodey. "I was gonna make you an omelet and tell you." 

"Save it for the honeymoon," Barton quipped at them. He squinted at the screen. "God, why couldn't Romanov have been here? She's better at the computer stuff." 

"While I resent the tranq dart," Toni told him, "your arms did not go to waste as a distraction. And the two of us can handle the Hammerdrones if we need to." 

"No, no, I got this," Agent Barton said. 

The Hammerdrones' chest pieces began to blink ominously. 

"Okay, maybe I don't got this," he said. 

* * *

"You almost died?" Rhodey said, as they stood on that roof overlooking the remains of the Expo. 

"The only thing that made it okay was that you were going to be there to save the world when I couldn't," she told him. "You were supposed to be Iron Man." 

"I was not ready to be Iron Man," Rhodey told her. "Shit, you can have the armor back." 

"Who are you and what have you done with my friend Rhodey, the inveterate adrenaline junkie?" 

"I kinda..." Rhodey put his helmet down on the edge of the roof and took a step closer to Toni. "I kinda realized that some things are more important." 

Toni stared at him for a moment, and then she reached out and kissed him, hard. He returned it, a little hesitantly. 

"That was weird," Toni said, pulling away. "Was that weird?" 

Rhodey stared at her for a second. "Yeah. Yeah, that was weird," he said. 

And they never spoke of it again. 


End file.
